Tire building machine



v F. H. GROVE ET AL 1,841,534

TIRE BUILDING MACHINE Fil d 13 16,1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 12 15 I5 1 4.9 54 WV 16 105 93 99 27 I 18 10 102 .98"

gwwntow/ A. L. 11631011, 5 R H Grave,

Jan. 19, 1932. F. GROVE ET AL TIRE BUILDING MACHINE Filed D80. 16, 1929 3 Sheets Sheet 2 5 m w 1 n u 6 1 62 ww w M m H w j 5 Z m m w w 5 i w m r w .r] n. 0 .....m 0 1V 1. 7 w 1 .4! M m r 2 3 3 Wu 1 4 m 5 .,5,.,.M| no. 2 ml 2 I 4 5 4% 2 m 0; 4 3% 9 3 2' M4 o :F 0 2 r 5; Q X I ll |H||N| 4 Wu 0' iu z z b I AMA "I, 0 6 2 1 1 5 3 i w 2 o o 5 7 x 5 5 4 l 5 7 M M WW I 5 5 I, 4 2 d 6 5 P w m w w H I i aZ/Q a; u IS I m 5 5 M1 1 7 6 I 4 0 H O 6 M b M 5 4 Ill M 4 6 5 4. m d P fl A. L. 1%;20/2, F. H Grave, M,

Jan. 19, 1932.

F. H. GROVE ET AL TIRE BUILDING MACHINE Filed Dec. 16, 1929 105 F| I03 I02 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 gwwmtow L. Hesion,

1 H Grove,

Patented Jan. 19, i 1932 PATENT orFicE UNITED: STATES FRANK H. enovnnnn A EN L. HESTON', on GOLUMBIANA, OHIO, nssrenons so nArrIonAL RUBBER amonrnnnyoomrany, or AKRON, OHIO, A eosroanrron or OHIO.

'rrnn BUILDING MACHINE Application filed December 1G, 1929. Serial No. 414,553.

This invention relates to tire-building machines, and especially those for makingflat "or semi-flat bands for forming pneumatic tire casings, although not wholly confined thereto.

The invention further relates to automatic machines of this class embodying stitcher -wheels and mechanism adapted, when set in 1notion,"to accomplish one coinpletecycle of operation and then stop. One of our chief adapted to be controlled by compressed air for which most factoryrtire-building rooms are piped.

invention.

A further object is to provide improved stitcher-feeding mechanism adapted to afford a relatively slow operatingor out-feed movement and a more rapid return.

Other objects are to provide improved automatic-control and brake mechanism for thestitcher-feeding devices in machines of this class, and improved automatic mechanism for throwing the stitcher into and out of operative relation with the tire form.

An additional object is to provide improved means for automatically. accomplishk ing dwell of thestitchers at the beginning of their operation, without feeding movementduring rotation of the tire form, to be followed by suchfeeding movement after a predetermined interval.

Of the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing a portion of a semi-flat tire-band building machine provided with a preferred embodiment of our Fig. Qis a top plan view, partly broken away and in section; showing the automatic stitcher mechanism. 1 V p is aloft side'elevation,partlybroken away and in section. from the plane 3.-3of

Fig. 4 is a right side elevation from the plane 4 1 of Fig. 2, illustratingthe means for accomplishing a preliminary dwell of the stitchersi Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig.

2 on a larger scale. I

Fig. 6 is a reduced'section on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

' Figs/7 and 8 are partial front elevations P illustrating successive positions ofthe stitchers and control devices, the former being on their outward operating movement in Fig.7 and on their return movement in Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, 10 in Fig. 1 is a portion of the frame or casing of a tirebuilding machine, and 11 is a portion of the rotary tire-building form, in this case a semiflat drum whose middle surface 12 is sub-' stantially flat or cylindrical and whose head seats 13 at the ends are conical and depressed 7 from the surface 12. '14 is aportion of the base of the machine on which are mounted tire-band rolllng instruments or stitohers and thelr operating and control devices.

monly knows as stitchers or stitcher wheels,

loosely journaled on crank arms 16 and p0-' sitioned below the drum 11, for consolidating the plies of tire material by rolling pressure.

-While these wheels mightvary as to shape,

size and inclination, we prefer to make them of: frusto-conical shape on their inner surfaces and incline them to the plane of the drum so that'theywill abut on a narrow apex at the center line of the drum when at the inner ends of their feed strokes as illustrated in Fig. 1, and will stand approximatelynor- '70 15, 15 are a pair of rollers or disks, comclosedin the bearings 17, and the downward- I ly-projecting stems of said rock-shafts are provided with adjustable stop-nuts 19 for varying their initial setting with respect to the drum surface, and varying the lnit-ial pressure of the springs. Thestitcher arms 18 are pivoted. at 2 0 I between respective pairs of forwardly-projecting ears orhinge menibers'Ql upon a horizontal rock-sleeve or hollow hub 22, and

motor such as an electric motor.

iorwwrrdly-projecting lugs attached by cap screws :26 to the under sides of the stitcher arms.

The hub 22 is mounted on suitable pivots etween a pair of supporting ears 29, 30 on the base let, one of said pivots being a journal 31 in the bearing ear 29, and the other being a hollow sleeve or quill fixed in the ear 30. For rocking the hub 22 to elevate the stitchers into operative relation with the drum ll or depress them into inoperative position, there is provided a pneumatic cylinder 33 pivoted at its lower end to the base 14 and having a plunger or piston-rod 84E pivoted to a forked lug 35 cast on the hub 22 and projecting forwardly therefrom, there being also a rearwardly-projecting stop-lug 86 on said hub adapted to en age the head of an adjustable stop-screw 3? or limiting the upward throw of the stitcher arms '18.

lVe do notclaim to be the inventors of the foregoing described mechanism, except in combination and may employ any suit-able equivalents. Our invention consists particularly in the following described means, or suitable variations thereof, for in'iparting feeding and positioning movements to said mechanism, and for automatically controlling such movements.

38 a driving pinion meshing with the stitcher-arm gear-segment 23 and formed on the lower end of an upright shaft 39 journaled in bearings in a hollow offset on the hub casting 22. Fixed to said shaft is a worm-gear 4L0 accessible for assembly through an opening in the casting closed by a detachable cover plate at]. Gear 40 meshes with a worm 42 on the inner end of a horizontal rotary power shaft 43 mounted in bearings in the quill and carrying at its outer end a driven belt pulley l4 for rotating said shaft. Pulley 4. 1- may be fixed on the shaft or it may, as herein illustrated, be loosely mounted on the shaft and connecttherewith by a lostmotion device hereinafter described for accomplishing a dwell of the stitcher wheels at the beginning of their feed movement, while the drum 11 performs one or more revolutions. I

The described arrangement of sha ts and reduction gearing provides a positive stitcher drive which operates with minimum friction and wear and is adapted to be actuatedby a This drive has proven superior in eiiiciency and durabihty to prior mechanisms for the same pur pose employing a pneumatic plunger and rack or a screw feed.

On a horizontal counter-shaft -15, supported in a bearing l6 on the base la; in the rear of and parallel with the shaft 43, are mounted a grooved driving pulley atT, connected by a V-belt 48 with the pulley a4, and a driven friction wheel or pulley i9, the latter having two concentric flanges 50 and 51 respectively of smaller and larger diameter and formed respectively with external and internal trio tion surfaces for alternative engagement with a driving friction wheel or pulley 5:2.

Pulley is fixed on the armature shaft of an electric motor 54 which is mounted for rising and falling bodily movement with respect to the driven pulley 4:9 to bring the pulley 5:2 into driving engagement with the respective flanges 5i and 50 of said driven pulley, or to a neutral position of disengagement between said flanges. The motor :34; is supported by a base-plate 55 pivoted at 56 on a bracket 57 on the machine base, and is yieldingly held in its neutral position by a vertical compression spring interposed between a fixed lung 59 and an arm 60 of a rocklever ()l pivoted at 62 on another fixed lug 63, the arm 60 carry an adjusting screw (it, the head of which abuts against the under side of plate 55.

The lugs 59 and (525 are formed on the cast ing of a pair of vertical pneumatic cylinders 65, (56 containing pistons respectively for raising and lowering the motor base-plate the piston of cylinder 65 having an adjustable screw 67, the head of which abuts against the under side of plate 55, and the piston of cylinder 66 having a rounded abutment 68' which contacts with the under side of an arm (39 of the rock-lever 61.

The raising and lowering of the motor base-plate 55 actuates a brake-shoe 70 adaptedto engage the outer surface of the flange 51 on wheel l9, said brake-shoe being pivoted onthe lower end of a rock-lever 71 which is pivoted at 72 on a fixed bracket 73 and is yieldingly pulled by a spring Tl to engage the brake-shoe with the wheel 4.). On ie upper arm of rock-lever 71 is pivoted at 75 a plate 76 having an adjustment 77 for fixing its angular position on the lever. Said plate is formed with a notch 177 flanked by a pair of rounded shoulders 78, 79 adapted to he alternatively engaged by a pin on the end of a bracket 8]. projecting diagonally upward from the motor base-plate hen the motor is in its neutral or intermediate position, the pin 80 will be in the notch 17'? and the brake-shoe 70 will be applied to the wheel 4.9. When it is depressed below the neutral position, the pin will engage shoulder 78 to release the brake and when it is raised above the neutral position it will engage shoulder 79 to release said brake.

To control the charging and dischargin ZUC iii

of the pneumatic cylinders 33, 65 and 66, thereis provided a double valve device 82, each side of which contains a pair of springelevated valves respectively for charging and discharging the cylinders with which they are connected, one each of the valve-stems on the respective sides being indicated at 83 and 84 in 1, '7 and 8. 85 is an air-supply pipe for both sides of the'valve device 82 andtheir exhaust passes out through suitable ports in the casing of said device. The right-hand side of valve device 82- is connected by a pipe86 with pipes 87 and 88 leadmg respectively to'the aircylinder 33 for elevating the stitchers and to the air cylinder 65 tor raising the motor 54. A pipe 89 shown in F ig.2 connects the left-hand side of valve device 82 with the cylinder 66 for lowering the motor 54.

90 is an angular valve-operating lever pivoted at 91 on a bracket projecting upwardly from the casing of thevalve device 82 and having two pairs of lugs 93,94 on opposite sides of its pivot for engaging the'heads of the two pairs of valve-stems 83 and 84. lVhen said'lever is in an intermediate or neutral position, all of the air cylinders are vented and their pistons depressed. hen the lever is swung counter-clockwise as illustrated in Fig. 7,'the valve-stems 84 are elevated by their springs to charge the cylinders 38 and 65. and the valve-stems 83 are de pressed to keep the cylinder 66 discharged. Vfhen said lever "is thrown clockwise in the opposite direction as illustrated in Fig. 8,

the valve-stems 83 are elevated by, their springs to charge the cylinder 66 and the stems 84 are depressed to discharge cylinders 33 and 65.

Valve-lever is turned in a'clockwise direction by-a pull spring 95, and in the opposite direction by a vertical link 96 connecting with a hand-lever 97 pivoted on the side of the casing 10, whereby the stitcher mechanism may be manually set in motion.

98 is a three-armed latch-lever pivoted at 98 on a fixed bracket and actuated by a pull spring- 99 to throw the short leftwardlyprojecting arm 100 of said lever into the path so of the vertical arm of valve-lever 90 to hold the latter in its leftward position when it hasbeen so moved by the hand-lever 97. In the intermediate or neutral position of lever 90 the arm 100 of lever 98 rests on the upper end of said vertical arm of the lever 90. For automatically tripping the latch-lever 98, we provide a tripping disk 101 mounted on the end of a horizontal trip-rod 102 which passesthrough a clamping block 103 and a guide block 104, the former being slidingrly mounted upon the right-hand link 27 and the latter pivoted 'tof the corresponding stitcher arm 18, so that latch-lever 98 will be. tripped by the outward travel-sect said stitcher arm. The rod 102 is adjustably to the vertical arm of lever 90 and slidingly supported at its other end on a fixed bracket 107. This rod carries a trip-roller 108 mounted on a block 109 which is fixed to the rod by a set-screw 110 so that it may be adjusted to the proper setting along said rod, said trip-roller being; engageal'ile by a lug 111 on the under side of the right-hand stitcher arm 18 when the latter is in its depressed position, for the purpose of restoring the valvelcver 90 from its right-hand to its neutral position at the limit of the inward or returnstroke or" the stitcher arms to neutralize the control 'alves and permit the motor 54 to rise into its intern'lediate position.

On the link 96 of the hand starting control is fixed a U-shaped lug ll2'which rests on the horizontal arm of latcl lever 98 when the hand-lever 9? has been released. means of this lug, the latch-lever may be manually tripped through a reverse movement of: the hand-lever when the parts are in their positions illustrated in F 7, if at any time during the outward feeding movement of the stitcher wl eels 15 it is desired to stop said feeding movement and return the stitchers to their starting position. The lower end of link 96 is formed with a verticalslot 118 occupied by a pin 114 on the horizontal arm of the valve-lever 90 to permit the depression of the link for actuating the latch-lever and to. allow the valve-lever to assume its right-hand position when released from the latch-lever.

When the stitcherwheels 15 occupy their innermost positions in contact with the tire material on the drum 11 and are about to begin their outward feeding movement, it is desirable to accon'iplish adwell of the stitchers in that position while the drum is making one or more turns in order thoroughly to roll down and compact the middle of the tire band and avoid a ridge at that point. motion connection at a suitable point in the driving connections between the motor 54 and the stitchcr arms 18. preferably anterior to the pinion shaft 38. lVhile sa-id lostmotion connection may take various forms; we have illustrated a preferred form 111 Figs.

2. 4 and .6. 115 is a driven arm or finger tn'ed to the outer end of the powershaft 43,

and 116 a driving pin mounted on thebelt- I the finger 115. Finger 11? 18 mounted to turn 'loosel v'on a bushing 119 lined in the .hub of pulley For this purpose we locate a losti arrying a Lea and said bushing turns loosely on the shaft 13. At the completion of reverse movement of the stitcher arms 18, bringing the rollers 15 together, the parts just mentioned will have the relative positions i -dicated in 1" 1. l fhen the pulley 52 and flange 51 are engaged, pin 116 will then perform substantially one complete revolution before picking up the loose finger 117, and the latter will perform substantially one complete revoluti before its pin 118 picks up the finger 11.5 and shaft 13 beans to rotate. Therefore, the pulley completes substantially two revolutions before the rotation of the shaft -13 begins and {he stitchers will have a corre sponding dwell in contact with the material on the drum 11 for a number of revolutions of sale "1" n dependino' upon the relation l o l of angula speed of the latter to that of the pulley When pulley is rotated in the opposite direction to reverse the travel of the stitchers, there is a corresponding dwell of the latter before beginu up; their return stroke, while the succ ssive pickup of the loose fing r 117 and the shaft l3 takes place.

This (l'fwll of shorter duration in view of the faster speed of the driving parts on the return stroke, and the d advanta "e of this t delay is compensated by the simplicity lost-motion connection.

Summarizing the operation, the slitcher mechanism is represented in Fig. 1 in its condition of rest. To start the machine, the outer end of hand-lo 97 is depressed and the valve-lever 90, which has been held in its neutral position by the action of the stitcher arm lug 111 on the trip roller 108, is moved comiter-clockwise until the arm 100 of latchlever 98 falls behind the vertical arm of said valve-lever, whereupon the hand-lever may be released and lug 112 carried by its link 96 w l rest on the horizontal arm of the latchlev r The described movement of the valvelevcr raises the rigl'it-hand pair of valvestems 81 and simultaneously admits compressed air to the cylinders 83 and 65. The piston of the former cylinder rocks the hub 22 to elevate the stitcher wheels against the tire material on the rotating drum 11, and the piston of the latter cylinder elevates the motor 54: to release the brake 70 and bring the driving pulley 52 against the outer flange 51 of tie driven friction pulley 49, thereby rotating the latter at its relatively slow speed and causing it to turn the pulley 4A: through the 4-8 in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 4-. The stitchcr wheels remain at the center of the drum during several revolutions of the latter, while the lost motion of the drive is taken up by the described parts: including the loose linger 117, and when the pulley 4 1 has made two revolutions it picks up the shaft and the stitcher wheels then begin'to feed ontwardm. feeding action takes place over the cylindrisl i.

This

cal portion 12 of the drum as represented in Fig. 7 and continues over the depressed conical portions 18 until the stitchers reach the edges of the tire band, whereupon the tripdisk 101, whose rod 102 has been given the proper setting in the clamping block 103, moves the latch-lever 98 to release the valvelever 90. The spring 95 then moves said valve-lever clock-Wise to its opposite extreme position as indicated in Fig. 8. Such movement of the valve-lever depresses the righthand pair of valve-stems and allows the lefthand pair 83 to be elevated by their springs, thereby exhausting the cylinders 3b and and admitting compressed air to the cylinder 66. The discharging of cylinder 33 allows the stitcher Wheels to drop, while the charging of cylinder 66 causes its piston to rock the lever 61 against the pressure of spring 58 and thereby depress the motor to first set the brake 70 and stop the wheel ll), and then bring pulley 52 into contact with the inner flange of the driven pulley 19 so that the latter will be rotated. at its higher speed. As soon as the lost motion of pulley 4.4 has been taken up, the shaft -13 is rotated in a reverse direction to return the stitchers as indicated in Fig. 8. When the stitcher-arn'i 11g 111 encounters the trip roller 108, valve-l -wer 90 is restored to its intermediate neutral position and cylinder is discharged, allowing spring 58 to elevate the motor to its intermediate or neutral position and set the brake 70, whereupon the mechanism comes to a stop. If it is desired to stop the outward feed of the stitchers and return them to their central position at any time before the complction of their stroke, this may be manually accomplished by elevating the outer end of. hand-lever 97, causing the lug 112 to trip the latchdcver 98, whereupon the stitchers are stopped and reversed and automatically brought to rest, as though the tripping had occurred automatically.

lVhile we have described a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understpod that various modifications cor. d be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

l -Ye claim:

1. In a tire-building machine. the combination of a rotary tire form, a swinging arm having a stitcher adapted to traverse said form, a rotary power shaft connected with said arm through a. reduction gearing for swinging the arm. reversible driving means for said shaft, and devices controlled by the traverse of said arm and controlling the dri ing means for automatically reversing said driving means to return the arm at the completion of its feeding traverse.

2. In a tire-building machine. the combination of a. pair of intergearcd. (m1 swinging, pivoted stitcher arms. a rotary power shaft for swinging said arms, continuously operating motor,; and reversing means interposed between said motor and power shaft.

3. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a pivoted stitcher arm having a gear segment, a stitcher carried by said arm and movable over the tire form, a pinion shaft having a gear pinion meshing with said gear segment, a rotary driving shaft connected by'worm gearing with said pinion shaft, and reversible'means for rotating said power shaft.

4. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher wheel, an arm carrying said wheel and pivoted to feed the wheel across said form, a hollow hub supporting said arm and pivoted to move the stitcher wheel into and out of operative position, a rotary power shaft mounted in said hub coaxially therewith and geared to said arm for imparting feed movements to the latter, a driven pulley on said shaft, and reversible means for rotating said pulley.

5. In a tire-building machine, the -conibination of a rotary flat-band tire form, a pair of stitcher Wheels, intergeared, oppositelymovable, pivoted arms carrying said wheels, a hollow hub carrying said arms and pivoted to move them toward and from the tire form,

a rotary power shaft coaxially mounted in said hub, reduction gearing connecting said shaft with the stitcher arms, and reversible means for rotating said shaft. 7 I

6. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher movable thereover, a single continuously-operating motor, and reversible driving connections from said motor to the stitcher, independent of said form for imparting a relatively-slow operating feed movement and a faster return movement to the stitcher.

7 In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher movable thereover, and reversible driving means for said stitcher including a motor having a friction driving pulley, and a driven pulleyv having an internal friction driving surface of relatively large diameter for imparting the operating feed movement to said stitcher an d a concentric external driving surface of relatively small diameter for imparting a faster return movement thereto.

8. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher movable thereover, and reversible driving means for said stitcher including adriven pulley having inner and outer friction surfaces, and a bodily-movable electric motor having a friction driving pulley movable in opposite directions to contact with the respective surfaces of the driven pulley.

9. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a stitcher, reversible driving means including a driven pulley having outer and inner friction surfaces respectively for imparting operating feed and return movements to the stitcher, an electric motor having a friction driving pulley adapted to be carried into contact with the respective driven surfaces by bodily movement of said motor in opposite directions, and fluid-pressure devices, controlled by the traverse of the stitcher for so moving the motor andfor holding it in a neutral position with its pulley between the two driven surfaces.

10. In a tire-building machine, the combination ofa stitcher, and reversible operating means therefor including a bodilymovable electric motor, a pair of fluid-pressure devices, one of which acts directly to shift said motor in one direction, and a lever interposed between the other device and the motor for shifting the latter in the opposite direction.

means therefor including a driven pulley mounted in a vertical plane and having outer and inner friction surfaces, an electric motor pivoted to swing in a vertical plane and having friction driving pulley located between and oppositely movable into contact with said surfaces, a pair of fluid-pressure devices mounted vertically under said motor and acting, when exhausted, to hold the motor in an intermediate neutral position, one of said devices having a direct thrust to raise the motor, and a lever interposed between the other de vice and the motor to depress the latter.

, l2. In ,atire-building machine, the combination of a stitcher, reversible stitcher-operatingmeans including a driven device, a brake therefor, a driving device having opposite driving positions and an intermediate.

neutral position with respect to said driven device, and means controlled by said driving device for releasing said brake in either of the driving positions of said driving device and setting it in the neutral position thereof.

13. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a stitcher, and reversible operating means therefor including a driven pulley having outer and inner friction surfaces, a brake for said pulley, a driving friction pulley having opposite positions for engaging the respective driven surfaces and a neutral position between them, and brake-operating connections controlled by the positions of said driving pulley for releasing the brake in either of the driving positions and setting it in theneutral position of the driving pulley, i y i 14. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher movable thereover, an arm carrying said stitcher and pivoted for lateral swinging movements to operatively feed and return the stitcher, a shaft geared to saidarm for swinging the I same,-reversible driving means for said shaft;

and a lost-motion connection between said dwell of the stitcher prior to beginning its operative feed movement.

15. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher movable thereover, a stitcher support having operating feed and return movements, a rotary power shaft for imparting said movements, and reversible shaft-driving means including a wheel loosely-mounted on said shaft, and a lost-motion connection between said Wheel and shaft.

16. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher hav-- ing a feed movement thereover and an opposite return movement, reversible driving mechanism independent of said form for imparting said movements, means controlled by the position of the stitcher and controlling said driving mechanism for automatically reversing the stitcher movement at the completion of its feed stroke, and manual means adapted to set said driving mechanism in operation and having provision for reversing the stitcher at will during the course of its feed stroke.

17. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher having opposite feed and return movements thereover, reversible driving mechanism for imparting said movement-s, fluidpressure devices and valve means controlling said mechanism, a valve lever, a latch for holding said lever in stitcher-feeding position, a manual device for moving the lever to that position, a spring for moving it to the opposite stitcher-returning position, an automatic tripper for said latch, controlled by the position of the stitcher, and a manual tripper for the latch controlled by said manual device.

18. In a tire-building machine, the combination of a rotary tire form, a stitcher movable over said form and toward and from the same, an arm carrying said stitcher, a rocker carrying the arm, a motor, reversible driving mechanism operated by the motor and connectedwith the arm by reduction gearing for imparting the operating feed and return movements to the stitcher, a fluidpressure device connected with said rocker, a pair of fluid-pressure devices for connecting the motor with the driving mechanism in opposed relations, valve means having one portion controlling the fluid-pressure device for the rocker and that for producin the feed movement of the stitcher, and another portion controlling the return movement of the stitcher, and means actuated by the traverse of the sitcher and controlling said valve means.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 23d day of November, 1929.

F RANK H. GROVE. ALLEN L. HESTON 

